Cider-mill



2 Sheets- Sheet 1 (No Moda.)

J. L. ROHRER.

CIDER MILL.

Patented Aug'. 4, 1891.

(No Modl.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet v2. J. L. ROHR'ER. CIDBR MILL.`

Patented Aug. 4., 1891.

f/Vmf'ozz' UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JACOB L. ROHRER, OF PALMYRA, MISSOURI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 457,217, dated August 4, 1891.

Application iiled January 19, 1891. Serial No. 378,341. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB L. ROHREE, of Palmyra, Missouri, have made a new and useful Improvement in Oid er-Mills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In the present improved construction the ground apple is fed from the mill onto atraveling belt. The belt is spread out to receive the apple; but after the belt in its movement has .passed the mill it is by means of suitable appliances folded into a tubular form, and in such form and containing within it the apple received from the mill it is carried between pressure-rollers. Preferably a series of pressure-rollers is employed, and they act, primarily, to express the juice; but they also, and by reason of the pressure exerted by them upon the belt and its contents, serve to drivei the belt. After passing the pressure-rollers the belt, by means of a suitable device for that purpose, is opened again into aiiat form and. the pomace is discharged from the belt.

The juice expressed bythe action of the roll- 'ers is collected beneath the upper part of the belt. Owing to the belt being an endless one, the operation of grinding and pressing the apples or whatever fruit is being treated is rendered continuous, all substantially as is hereinafter set forth and claimed, aided by the annexed drawings, making part of this specification and exhibiting the most desirable mode of carrying out the improvement, and in which- Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section of the improved mill; Fig. 2, a plan of the same, the mill being omitted; and Figs. 3, 4,y 5, and 6, details upon an enlarged scale, Fig. 3 being a side elevation of one of the pedestals for holding the bearings for a pair of the pressure-rollers, Fig. et a horizontal section on' the line 4 4 of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 a side elevationof the roller-driving gear, and Fig. 6 an end elevation of the rollers, their bearings, and driving-gear.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

A, Fig. l, represents the mill. As the workving ofthe improvement is not dependent upon any special grinding mechanism, the mill exhibited in the drawings `is shown 1n outline only; but it is suitably arranged, substantially as shown, to enable the ground apple B to be discharged therefrom onto the belt C. To this end the mill maybe sustained in position by any suitable supports. shown.) The belt is composed of suitable material for carrying ground apple and holding it while being pressed. In width the belt is wide enough to receive the apple from the mill and afterward to be folded into a tubular form around the apple, and the.belt is preferably an endless one and sustained and carried upon and around suitable bearings-such as the rollers d d d2 d3 of the frame-work D-as Well as over the trough E and between the pressu re-rollersF F', G G, II Il', I I', and J J. The frame-Work is of any proper form and material for the purpose in question. Adesirable form is exhibited. The trough E, which is the preferable form of support of the belt beneath the mill, is supported upon the frame-work beneath the mill. The belt passes over the trough,

and it may be held closely down thereupon' (Not by means of a roller K, which'in turn is held in position by means, say, of the arms k k, extending from the mill subst-antially as shown. After passing the mill the vbelt containing the apple encounters the deflectors L L. These deflectors serve, and to that end are properly shaped, to respectively uplift the side portions c c of the belt and fold them successively upon the apple carried upon the central portion of the belt, and so that the folds cv c-l'ap upon each other, substantially as" shown.-

The belt in this manner is converted! into a tube, and in such form it and its contents are carried between the upper and lower rollers of the series of pressure-rollers. The rollers constitute the pressing mechanism of the conpair even enables the improvement to be car- IOO ried out in a measure. To enable the rollers in each pair to exert the proper pressure, I preferably make the bearing f of the lower roller a fixed 011e and the bearing f of the upper roller a movable one, and obtain the pressure by weighting the upper roller, or, what is the equivalent, employ springs such as shown substantially at M, which exert a downward pressure upon the bearings of the upper roll of each pair. By this means not only is the pressure obtained, but in such a manner as to provide for the passage of any unyielding substances which may accidentally become mixed with the apple, and which, if the rolls do not yield thereto, cause trouble. When a series of pressure-rollers are used as shown, the springs in the successive pairs are respectively suitably contrived to exert greater pressures upon the folded belt and contents. As the belt passes the pressurerollers the juice is expressed from the apple and discharged through the meshes of the belt, and is collected in a suitable tank N, arranged beneath the upper part of the belt and suitably supported in the frame work of the machine and provided with an outlet fn., through which the juice collected in the tank can be ultimately delivered. The belt in its continued movement is now unfolded into a flat form again,the pomace discharged therefrom, and the belt carried around and around,receiving the discharge from the mill, carrying it past the pressure rollers, then opening and discharging the pressed pomace, and then returning to beneath the mill again.

The means for opening the folded belt and spreading it into a iiat form are preferably as follows: O represents what might be termed a wedge It is. pointed toward the oncoming folded belt, and its point o is always within the folds c c of the belt. The wedge widens backward to the width, or thereabout, of

Y the belt when opened out.

It is also crowned to facilitate its action upon the belt, and it is also otherwise shaped and arranged, all so as to provide for the passage of the pomace beneath it to the point at which the pomace is discharged from the belt. This point is preferably at the bend where the belt passes over the roller d. This roller CZ is supported in any suitable manner-as, for instance, upon the brackets d* d4, which project from the frame-work D, as shown. The wedge O may be supported in position by arms o o', which extend upward from the 4brackets d4 d4. The lower portion of the belt, for the purpose of cleaning the belt, may be carried past asuitable cleaning device P. This device may consist of an upper roller p and a lower brush 6o p, or of any other appliance adapted for cleaning the belt.

Various means may be employed for driving the belt, and I desire not to be limited to any special means. Vhat `I considera desirable method is shown in the drawings. Thev various shafts f2, g2, h2, i2, and j2 of both the upper and the lower pressure-rollers are provided, respectively, with gears f3, g3, h3, 3, and js. These gears engage with worms, such as shown at q upon the shaft Q. This shaft is provided also with a beveled gear q,which engages with a beveled gear r upon the driving-shaft R. By this means the motion of the driving shaft is communicated to the pressure-rollers. Owing to the pressure eX- erted, as described, by the upper. pressurerollers thereupon, the folded belt and contents are nipped sufficiently between the upper and lower pressure-rollers to cause the motion of the pressure-rollers to be communicated to the belt, which is thereby moved, as described. The upper shafts of each pair f 2 f2 g2 g2, ctc., of shafts are jointed, substantially as shown at f4 f5, Fig. G, to enable the upper rollers to rise and fall, according to the thickness of the intermediate belt and contents. The upper roller-shafts can also move endwise sufficiently to accommodate the level of the rollers. I desire also not to be conned to the trough E for supporting the belt beneath the mill, as other supports variously formed will to a greaterl or lesser degree answer my purpose. I prefer, however, the trough as shown. It serves to support the apple and' also to hold and transfer whatever juice may gather in it into the tank beneath the pressure-rollers. It also, by reason of its shape at its sides and receiving end, is favorable, in connection with the roller K, to the changing` of the belt from a flat into a folded form, as described. It is desirable to support the belt at intermediate points occurring between the trough and the first pair of pressure-rollers, and also between the various pairs of pressure-rollers, upon some open-'work support, and such support is conveniently formed by means of the slats T, substantially as shown.

I claim- Y 1. The combination of the trough having upwardly flared sides and tapering longitudinally toward the delivery end of themachine, the traveling belt and the roller arranged just behind the discharge-spout for the material upon the belt, the deiectors with rollers for effecting the conversion of the belt into a tubular form, and means for spreading the belt at the delivery end, substantially as set forth. Y

2. The combination of the trough having upwardlyflared sides and tapering longitudinally toward the delivery end of the machine, the traveling belt, the roller arranged just behind the discharge-spout for the material upon the belt, the deiiectors with rollers for the conversion of the belt into a tubular form, and the defiectors for spreading the belt at its delivery end, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the trough, the traveling belt, the rollers, and the deflectors, two

adapted to lap and convert the belt into a tube IOO ieg

IIC

and one Wedge-shaped to spread said tube or ace to pass beneath it, substantially'as debelt at its delivery end, said rollers being arscribed. ranged intermediately of said deleetors and Witness my hand this 30th day of Decembearing on said tube or belt, substantially as ber, 1890.

5 set forth.

4. The combination of the mill, the trough, JACOB L' ROHRER the traveling belt, the rollers, and the delect- Witnesses: ors, two adapted to lap and convert the belt JULIUS E. STUHLMAN, into a tube and one being wedge-shaped to FRED W. STUHLMAN,

1o spread or open said tube and permit the porn- JOHN WV. BENTWARE. l 

